The present invention relates to an adjustable friction increasing device and method for quickly and easily adding traction to a vehicle tire to assist a vehicle in moving off soft, low traction, or slippery surfaces such as snow, ice, mud, and the like.
Regular vehicle tires are designed for hard non-slip surfaces such as concrete, asphalt or packed down gravel which are encountered during normal driving conditions. These tires usually perform adequately under normal, wet or snow and icy road conditions. However, tires become limited when confronted with surfaces for which they are not designed, such as heavy snow, certain ice conditions, mud, ruts, sand, loose gravel and obstructions, for example. A common problem occurs in the winter when ice buildup on the surface around the tire prevents the tire from get traction preventing the vehicle from moving. A similar problem may occur in the spring or fall if the vehicle parks on an unpaved surface after a heavy rain and the ground turns to mud. This problem is not limited to the traditional passenger vehicle for use on normal roads. A variety of vehicles such as tractors, ATV's, riding lawn mowers, and the like, may encounter similar problems.
Once stuck, the vehicle is unusable for its intended purpose. This may result in merely a minor inconvenience or a significant financial hardship if the owner can no longer get to work or use the vehicle for its intended purpose. There can also be considerable expense if the vehicle requires towing or is damaged in an attempt to “un-stick” the tires. The owner, helpers, or bystanders may also risk injury in an attempt to push the vehicle or rock it off the slippery surface rotating the tires at high tire RPMs. The problem becomes acute during an emergency situation, for example, when an injured person must be quickly transferred to a hospital using a vehicle that is inoperable due to road conditions.
A variety of temporary tire traction devices have been designed to overcome these problems and are disclosed in prior art. Some prior art devices simply attach to the tire/tire tread itself. A common example of such a prior art device involves attaching tire chains to the tread surface of the tire. Additional examples include replacing the tire with snow or studded tires. Other prior art devices attach directly to the wheel instead. However, all of these prior art devices have limitations such as being difficult to apply and remove especially under less than ideal weather conditions.
Although traditional snow, stud tires, chains, etc. may increase wheel traction, there are a variety of situations where they will not solve the problem, or have many other limitations. Use of these prior art devices requires the vehicle owner to have the foresight to realize that the vehicle will encounter a slippery surface in advance. They are typically seasonally placed on vehicles in geographic areas only where there are heavy winter snows. There is also a significant financial investment in purchasing an entire second set of specialty tires for the vehicle which makes them uneconomical for the majority of vehicle owners. Additionally, they are inconvenient to apply because the entire tire must be removed and replaced making them semi-permanent once mounted. In fact, many, if not most vehicle owners are not able to replace the tires themselves and have to hire a mechanic to install and later remove the tires at even greater expense and effort. An additional problem is that since they are only used in winter, they are not practical for conditions such as mud in the spring or sand at the beach in the summer. An even greater problem is that they cannot be applied once the vehicle is stuck. Finally, they or the road may be damaged if used under normal conditions outside of their intended use. In fact, many municipalities have restrictions as to the time of year residents may use such tires or if they can be used at all because of the damage they do to a road surface.
Devices that mount directly to the tire may also solve some traction issues. However, these prior art devices also suffer many limitations. U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,746 to Wilkinson teaches an emergency traction device that attaches directly to the vehicle tire. The straps in this prior art device provide additional traction. However, this device is not easy to mount or remove. The user must thread a multitude of straps through and around the tire to apply the device. Additionally, this is a disposable device. The straps must all be cut off somehow once the immediate use is over. This creates a risk of injury to the user, a tire puncture and additional expense. Other prior art devices that mount directly to the tire have similar limitations. They may not properly secure to the tire because they flex excessively on movement or they may damage the tire in other ways.
Further types of prior art devices that attach directly to the tire also have limitations. U.S. Pat. No. 3,827,473 to Blickensderfer et al. is an example of a device mountable to a wheel used to provide additional traction that is too basic in design. While it teaches an adjustable device for adding traction, the traction surface only consists of metal bars. This will not provide enough traction to allow a vehicle to move off of many slippery surfaces. This device is also not easy to apply.
Another prior art device that attaches directly to the tire is taught by U.S. Pat. No. 7,055,567 to Della Camera. This is an example of a prior art device mountable to a wheel used to provide additional traction that is overly complicated in design. The plurality of arced traction members makes the device bulky and difficult to quickly and easily install. Additional similar prior art devices likewise suffer from limitations such as sturdiness, cost, etc.
Notwithstanding these prior art devices for providing supplemental traction for a vehicle tire, there continues to be a need for a low cost, easy and safe to operate with one or two hands system and method that attaches to the tire and adjusts easily with little skill, lowers the probability of the user from getting dirty, is usable under a variety of conditions when the need occurs, that has a variety of interchangeable tire friction system elements to provide traction under a variety of different surface conditions, and that can fold up for easy storage.